Eve Urban Air Mobility and Zanite Acquisition Corp are expected to complete their planned business combination on May 9 and then float shares in the new Eve Holding entity on the New York Stock Exchange. In an April 14 statement, the companies said that special purpose acquisition company Zanite has filed the required definitive proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, preparing the way for completion of a deal with the eVTOL aircraft developer.
Zanite’s board of directors has recommended that shareholders approve the combination with Eve, which is a subsidiary of Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. This is expected to happen at a special meeting on May 6, according to the definitive proxy statement filed on April 14.
During a March 25 briefing for investors, Eve’s leadership team indicated that they expect the merger and Wall Street listing to raise well over $500 million. This prediction is based on the fact that it has been able to increase the public investment in private equity (PIPE) by $42 million to $347 million since announcing the deal in December 2021.
The transaction is also backed by $237 million in cash from Zanite, which is itself backed by business aviation entrepreneur Kenn Ricci and his co-founder, Steven Rosen. New PIPE backers include Acciona, Thales, and Space Florida. Eve CFO Eduardo Couto indicated that the capital raised could now total $584 million and will support Eve’s plans to bring its four-passenger eVTOL aircraft into service during 2026. The combined company will trade under the symbols EVEX and EVEXW. Embraer will be the majority shareholder in the new Eve Holding public company with just over an 80 percent stake.